I presume this means that feminist lobby groups which had previously opposed the passage of on the grounds that it would undermine the rights of women will now, in the face of evidence that the majority of Canadian women support the passage of the bill, shift their viewpoints and offer their ringing endorsement of the legislation?

(74%) are slightly more in favour of the proposed legislation than (66%). Female respondents (19%) are also less likely than male respondents (29%) to perceive the as an attempt to recriminalize in

The alternative, it would seem, is for said feminist organizations to step up and admit that their views are, at least as pertains to this particular issue, in the minority — to the tune of no more than 26% of Canadian women.

Interesting additional tidbit: Abortion is legal in , and yet it seems that hardly any women there are exercising their right to “choose”. Apparently, the rates of abortion procurement are so low that the article covering the story begins with this heady comment: “YOUNG Australian women are as unlikely to have an abortion today as their grandmothers were half a century ago, according to new national data that shows a dramatic decline in the procedure.”

That’s damn good news, methinks. Not only does it mean that Australia will actually have a better birthrate, and thus a larger young population to replace its aged one in due season — it just plain means that fewer babies are being murdered Down Under, and that’s always a positive trend. It also means, I think, that Aussie women are taking a look at the various “choices” open to them during pregnancy and are realizing — in droves — that abortion is simply “off the table” as a legitimate choice for them.

Good on ya, mates!

Feminist lies

March 17, 2008

In opposition to , the , Bread and Roses, a feminist website, is launching the “One Body. One Person. One Count.” campaign. What an outright lie.

Don’t see it, O Reader? It’s the first sentence of the campaign’s header.

A quick note first: I’m actually not taking issue with the “One Person.” sentence, since that is a truthful statement of the status of children under Canadian law — legally speaking, a fetus is not a person, the same way that were not considered persons at one point in Canadian history (and could in fact, for some time after they were designated as persons under the law, legally be raped by their husbands), and the same way that were (and, in some countries today, are) not considered persons at various stages in history (and were murdered in droves as a result).

And as disgusted as I am at the prospect of how Canadian law has set up this legal loophole by which the murder of thousands of Canadians every year through the procedure called can be effected, I have to say that I do find it darkly ironic that “” — a designation that early feminism fought long and hard to win for women in — has become the tool by which modern feminism continues to justify the murder of the unborn and the continued oppression of women through it.

But let us come back to the lie, shall we?

“One Body.” It’s a patent falsehood, as any thinking person ought to be able to understand, because the unborn child — while dependent on its mother for nourishment and protection — is a separate and distinct being from its mother. The unborn child — a , homo sapiens, by species — contains unique genetic information, distinct and different from that of its mother. Yes, she contributed approximately half of the child’s genetic information, but the father contributed the other half — and in that combination, unique genes emerged that belong to the child, and only to the child. In that way, it is distinct from the mother — its body is not hers.

Even physically, there are two bodies, one within the other — anyone who has viewed an ultrasound can understand that much.

Look, it’s not that I don’t think feminists (a phrase which always strikes me as being slightly oxymornic, but nevermind that for now) should have the opportunity to voice their opposition to Bill C-484. Obviously, they have that right, and should be free to exercise it.

I just wish they didn’t have to lie through their teeth when doing so.

* I’m speaking here, O Reader, not only of the way that abortion tends to benefit men more than women, but also of the way that even in Canada, abortion is used by many people as a method of gender selection (a system in which female fetuses are more likely to be aborted)

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It’s hardly enough, but any law which recognizes that the are living, s worthy of some manner of protection from harm is a good thing. And with the Liberals paralyzed for fear of triggering an election, and the and to weakened at the moment to present serious opposition to the bill, now is the perfect time for the Conservative government to be passing it.

A controversial federal justice bill that would make it a separate crime if a fetus dies when its mother is attacked passed through the second stage of proceedings in Parliament on Wednesday.

But MPs opposed to the bill — who say it’s a back-door attempt to attack abortion rights — say they will try to make sure the bill never makes it out of committee.

“I think the NDP, the Bloc and about half the Liberals will mobilize at committee stage to try and nip this in the bud,” said New Democrat MP .

The passed second reading Wednesday evening by seven votes, splitting support among the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP.

Martin and other critics — including groups — fear that, by giving the fetus a right through this legislation, it opens the door for anti-abortion groups to go back to court and argue against abortion.

I like how the newspaper reporter didn’t bother to seek out the opinion of groups or supporters of the bill, preferring to stay safely on the pro-choice side of the issue and only quoting those who oppose the bill. Media bias aside, though, there’s good news here.

It’s beyond all reasonable debate that the fetus is human, and that it is alive, and that it is a unique being set apart from either of its parents; it is, genetically speaking, different from both the mother and the father. Observations of that nature tend to do away with most of the pro- arguments one tends to encounter, including the notion that the only issue is a woman’s right to “control her own body” (because it’s not just her body, is it?).

Indeed, the only recourse that the lobby has, in the face of the facts, is to argue that the unborn are not “persons” under the law, and to oppose any and all attempts to grant them some or all of the rights enjoyed by those who, under the law, are considered “persons.” If that sort of reasoning sounds familiar, it ought to — notions of personhood have been used to justify the bigotry and murderous excesses of many a dictator, and even a few racist groups, throughout history. Marching in lockstep with the notion of personhood is the notion of “wantedness,” and the suggestion that it is legal and morally acceptable to kill those unborn children which are not “wanted” by the mother. Apparently, though, that reasoning is only valid up until the moment of the child being born — if the mother should decide a couple of years later that she no longer “wants” the child, she’s out of luck.

Not that one could ever accuse the pro-choice side of having the most consistent arguments, logically speaking.

And yet, the plain fact of the matter is that if someone does kill a pregnant woman, two lives are ended; if a pregnant woman is attacked and loses her baby, a human being has still died. Any reasonable person ought to be able to see that in that circumstance, a punishable offence has occurred, and that Canadian law should include provisions to prosecute those who commit such crimes. If nothing else, this bill — is its technical name — is a breath of fresh air and fresh thinking from a government that, two years on, continues to impress.

And it should pass, not only because it will throw pro-choicers everywhere into hysterics, but because it reflects a biological reality.